Roping practice sleds are well known in the art and are used primarily for helping ropers train themselves to compete as well as to train their horses. They are also used for recreational roping.
Advancements have been made to roping sleds over the years, including the addition of collapsible horns as disclosed by Copenhaver, U.S. Pat. No. 7,430,990, and Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,411, as well as leg motion mechanisms such as those disclosed by Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,386, and Donnelly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,775, and body motion as disclosed by Bruegman et al., patent application No. 20160029596.
There are many heeling practice sleds on the market that are configured with a non-removable steer body. The primary benefits of combining a heeling sled with a removable ground heading dummy are overall cost of roping practice products, ease of transport, and multi-function capability of using the ground heading dummy while being mounted on a horse. Currently, there is only one version of the prior art of sleds that that combines a heeling practice sled with a removable ground roping dummy—the Smarty Steer. However, the Smarty Steer, and other sleds have the following shortcomings—they do not provides for a variety of settings to allow multiple configurations to replicate a wide range of scenarios that a roper might encounter while roping a live steer, such as horns of various length and rotation, a head tilted to one side, or legs and hips that are affixed at a skewed position, while providing a quick attachment mechanism for the ground heading dummy so that it can be easily installed and removed for standalone use.
Additionally, with regards to the function of the legs and particularly legs that come together when roped, the prior art does not provide for legs that operate independently to emulate a real steer. Versions of the prior art that do provide for collapsible legs do so by providing two different spring elements operating in different planes—one to retract the legs forward, and the other to expand the legs apart from each other. The multiple spring configuration of the prior art does not allow the legs to operate independently, and requires excessive hardware that adds to the weight of the sled.
Additionally, with regards to the swinging out, or as Bruegman puts it “washing out” of the legs and hips of a real steer, a real steer's hind legs typically swing out when a header sets and turns the steer after roping it, particularly when the header turns the steer in a rapid fashion in order to expedite the run. Although the prior art presented by Bruegman does replicate the body of the steer swinging out, a roper practicing would simply wait for the body to swing back in before roping, or would only have one instant, in the corner of the turn, to attempt to rope the legs in the swung out position. The prior art does not offer a mechanism for the legs to be affixed in the swung out position such that the roper will have greater opportunity to practice the fundamentals of properly swinging and delivering his rope to catch a steer on the “corner shot”.
Additionally, Bruegman discloses an aft section of the sled body that swings outward, but not legs that move independently from side to side relative to the body.
Additionally, the prior art does not provide for a mechanism whereby the legs can be raised and lowered with relative ease without raising and lowering the entire body of the steer, which is difficult for a youth roper or roper of little strength.
Additionally, with regards to collapsible horns, the prior art limits the length and configuration of the horns because each horn rotates within the same plane as the other horn such that they touch each other upon collapse, regardless of the invention of Copenhaver apparatus which allows the horns to also tilt backward relative to the sled. This coplanar rotation limits the angle of rotation of the horns because they ultimately collide with each other upon collapse. Due to this limited angle of rotation, the collapsible horns can only be a certain length and have a limited curvature, while simultaneously accurately replicating the horn position of a real steer, otherwise the rope will not slide off upon capture of the horns and tension of the rope.
Additionally, coplanar horn rotation prohibits the horns from being positioned to face forward or even down while in the stationary, non-collapsed position, else the rope will not release upon collapse of the horns.
Additionally, there is no prior art with a removable dummy that allows the head to be tilted from one side to the other to replicate a steer that tilts his head.
Additionally, there is no prior art that allows the easy securing and removal of a heading dummy with a solid base by a youth roper or roper of relatively little strength. Products such as the Rope Rite sled allow a dummy to be tied on or otherwise secured to a flat base by tie-down straps or bolts, but are not designed to complement a dummy to be rapidly affixed to and removed from the sled, nor readily affixed at a practical heading angle. One embodiment of the prior art—the Smarty Roping Steer—does provide a system by which a heading dummy with a hollow base can be lifted up, over, and positioned onto a sled, but this requires strength and height beyond that of a youth roper, and the hollow base of the heading dummy reduces stability of the dummy when positioned on the ground and allows the dummy to undesirably slide around more easily.
Another shortcoming of the prior art is current products on the market are excessive in weight, which limits the ability to replicate sporadic movements. Weight limits the tendency of the sled to sporadically slide from side to side with the inundations of the ground over which it is pulled. Excessive weight also requires the towing device—rope, chain, spring loaded tow bar, etc.—to have a high tensile strength, which limits the elasticity, thus limiting sporadic changes in forward momentum, such as with a live steer. The greater the elasticity of the tow device, the easier it is to impart sporadic movements that emulate a live steer, and the better it is for the horse and roper to practice dallying without potential for injury. The prior art of sled towing devices that provide a buffer to allow dally practice consists of compression spring loaded damper tow bars, which do nothing to impart action on the sled as it is being towed, are heavy and cumbersome to transport, and not practical for a young roper or roper of lesser strength to hook up and utilize. Such devices also limit the distance which a sled will travel before it reaches the towing device reaches the limit of elasticity, thus minimizing the time that a roper has to practice dallying around the horn, given that the distance is limited by the compression length of the spring, which is generally no greater than 50% of the length of the spring. See McCarthy, patent application No. 20130026688.
Additionally, because of their heavy weight and the required rigid towing mechanisms, conventional sleds cannot be pulled through the corner at a rate of speed and with a minimal amount of surface friction that would allow the replication of a steer swinging wide, drifting, or washing out around the corner, without the need for the hinge mechanism disclosed by Bruegman, which further imparts weight.
Additionally, excessive weight requires a towing vehicle with greater power, and imparts excessive wear and tear on the towing vehicle.
Additionally, excessive weight and components make existing sleds difficult and costly to ship, and cumbersome to transport, particularly for a youth roper or roper of lesser strength.
Additionally, the prior art does not allow a header to rope, set and turn the sled for the header without the operator of the towing machine to first pull the sled in the general direction that the header is turning.
Additionally, the prior art does not allow the width or stationary position of the legs to be adjusted relative to each other to practice delivering the heel loop to variety of target configurations, including extra wide legs to practice getting the tip of the loop from the outside to the inside of the steer.
Thus, there is a need in the market for a combination heading and heeling practice sled that is lighter, comes apart in sections, is easier and cheaper to ship, easier to disassemble and transport, allows a heading ground dummy with a solid flat base to be easily affixed to and removed from the sled by a roper of virtually any strength and height; a sled which can be manipulated to replicate numerous configurations for training and practice, including turning the legs to the outside or inside of the sled, adjusting the legs asymmetrically to one another in the stationary position, adjusting the horns to tilt to the left or right, positioning the head to be in either a standard or downward orientation, having roping legs that may be spread further apart, having legs that are adjustable in height to increase the difficulty of roping when lowered; a sled that is lighter with a towing device that is more elastic to provide more erratic movements to emulate the speeding up, slowing down, and side to side movements of a live steer, a towing device and sled of lighter weight that makes it safer for the roper to practice dallying, imparts less strain on the roper and less strain on the horse when the rope is dallied around the saddle horn; a sled that due to its lighter weight imparts less wear on the tow vehicle; a sled that may be pulled rapidly and simultaneously turned sharply without turning over without the need for a rigid tow bar. There is also a need in the market for a collapsible, interchangeable horn system that allows for a multitude of sizes and angles of configurations of horns, while still allowing the rope to be released upon being pulled taught.